There is so much to learn from people that walk through life in a way you could never imagine. Empathy can only be utilized through a true pursuit of understanding what you may not know. The realization that my skin color was associated with more than I knew came as a slow-moving awareness in a fast-moving life. I learned the n-word, realized my hair did not lay straight in conformance with socially accepted beauty, learned how to handle questions stemming from complete ignorance, and most importantly came to the understanding that hate can be spoken without words.
